‘ Talong’ and winding road
The road to good health is like the road to world peace: It’s long and winding; there are no shortcuts. If there were, there would be no trouble from the east to the west, from the north to the south. Like planting talong or eggplant, peace is something we cultivate with effort and cooperation.
“Are peas difficult to grow, Uncle?” my cute nephew Pannon asked me.
“Oh, it’s p-e-a-c-e I was talking about, but p-e-a-s are relatively easy to grow. You can harvest in nine to 11 weeks. Interestingly, the more pods you pick every day, the more the peas increase production.” “How about talong?” “May and June are ideal months for talong. In just 12 to 15 weeks, you can have fresh talong on the table.”
“It’s not easy then. So how about p-e-a-c-e? Is it harder?”
“Hmm, 300 centuries of trying to get it may not be enough.”
“How about health, Uncle? You said the road to good health is long and winding.”
“And there are no shortcuts. You can’t get it from a bottle and go on living a wanton life.”
“I heard eggplants are a species of nightshade, a poisonous plant. How come talong is not?”
“I don’t know, but just maybe, it got domesticated, like the first dog came from a domesticated wolf. Domestication may remove every bad thing in someone or something.” “Are you domesticated?” “Pannon, don’t ask your uncle that question. Let’s stick to world peas, or world peace.”
“According to organicfacts.com, eggplants should not be fried but baked because frying ‘counteracts a number of the health benefits, and can cause weight gain and negatively impact heart conditions.’ Oh, gee, we’ve been eating talong fried, stuffed and as meat substitute for meatballs.”
“You’re the wise one this week, Pannon. Don’t forget we’ve been having healthy talong salad, made more tasty with thinly sliced radish cucumbers and coconut milk.”
“No, Uncle, you’re the wise one this week. You’ve been able to write a column, talong and winding way.”